1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method for controlling volume of water used in each sensor-operated flushing cycle of a flushing system, which is capable of incorporating with an automatic flush actuation apparatus, so as to automatically complete the flushing cycle through the use of a sensor in responsive to a time duration.
2. Description of Related Arts
Manual operated toilet room flush valves for use on urinals and water closets in public restrooms are well known. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional manual operated automatic flush actuation apparatus comprises a valve body A1 having a water inlet A11 and a water outlet A12, a diaphragm A2 having a water channel A21 communicating between the water inlet A11 and the water outlet A12, a relief valve A3 disposed at the diaphragm A2 for blocking the water flowing from the water inlet A11 to the water outlet A12 through the water channel A21, and a flush lever A4 arranged to move the relief valve A3 at a position that the water is allowed to flow to the water outlet A12 for completing the flushing operation.
For hygiene purposes, an automatic operated toilet room flush valve is developed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,169,118 and 5,244,179 disclose a solenoid operated automatic flush valve which is battery-operated and utilizes a latching solenoid to limit power drain on the battery. Accordingly, when the infrared sensor detects the presence of a user of a urinal or toilet, the flush valve is automatically driven to open to complete the flushing operation. However, the flush valves, according to the above patents, have several common drawbacks.
The presence of the user sensed by the infrared sensor will cause the solenoid to move the diaphragm to a valve open position. It is known that the solenoid is made of a number of circular wire loops to generate a magnetic force when an electric current is passed through the wire loops. The solenoid may come in contact with water such that the solenoid may accumulate rusting particles from the water, which may remain on the solenoid. It is one of the common problems to cause a failure of operation of the flush valve. In other words, the conventional manual operated flush valve is more reliable than the solenoid operated automatic flush valve. Thus, the maintenance cost of the solenoid operated automatic flush valve is higher than that of the conventional manual operated flush valve.
In addition, the structural design of the solenoid operated automatic flush valve is different from that of the manual operated flush valve. In other words, when the flushing system is incorporated with the solenoid operated automatic flush valve, the flushing system will lose the mechanical-manual operated feature. Therefore, there is no alternative to operate the flushing cycle when the solenoid operated automatic flush valve has failed to operate.
In order to install the solenoid operated automatic flush valve into the conventional flushing system, the mechanical-manual operating mechanism of the flush valve must be totally removed, which is a waste of resources in order to incorporated with the solenoid operated automatic flush valve.
The configuration of the solenoid operated automatic flush valve is complicated, wherein once the solenoid is broken or the battery is dead, the facility should call a technician to open an outer cover and disassemble an inner cover for the replacement of the solenoid or the battery. Due to the complicated structure of the solenoid operated automatic flush valve, the solenoid operated automatic flush valve requires a skilled technician to replace the broken solenoid and/or even replace the battery, which may further increase the maintenance cost of the infrared operated automatic flush valve.
According to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496, filed on Feb. 28, 2003, owned by the same inventors of the present invention, it disclosed an automatic flush actuation apparatus for automatically completing a flushing cycle through the use of a sensor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496 disclosed the system comprising the CPU 44 for sensing a presence of a user of the flushing system 1, wherein the CPU 44 is electrically connected with the power generator 43 to drive the actuator 45 to move the relief valve 30 between the auto-operated closed position and the auto-operated opened position. In other words, when the CPU 44 detects a presence of the user, the power generator 43 is automatically activated for starting the flushing cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496 also taught the relief valve 30 normally retained at the auto-operated closed position that the relief valve 30 is sealedly closed for blocking the water passing to the water outlet 112 at the auto-operated closed position. When the relief valve 30 is moved to an opened position by the actuator 45, the relief valve 30 is opened for releasing the water pressure within the water chamber 113 to allow the water to passing to the water outlet 112. Therefore, the relief valve 30 is arranged to complete the flushing cycle from the auto-operated closed position to opened position back to the auto-operated closed position via movement of the relief valve 30 controlled by the CPU 44.
According to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496, the sensor-operated flushing cycle of the flushing system 1 is controlled by the rotation of the actuator 45, which is driven by the power generator 43 controlled and electrically connected to the CPU 44. Once the driven end portion 451 of the actuator is rotated back to its original position, the relief valve 30 is moved to sealedly sit on the valve member 20 to close the water passage 31, so as to stop and complete the flushing cycle.
Therefore, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496 also indicated that the CPU 44 comprises a control processor 441. The control processor 441 is a control circuitry to control the configuration of the flushing cycle, wherein the control processor 441 is adapted to control the time of the flushing cycle, the water volume for each flushing cycle, the detecting range of the sensor 442, and the motion of the electric motor of the power generator 43. Therefore, the CPU 44 is able to adjustably control the configuration of flushing cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,496 further disclosed that the volume of water used in one flushing cycle can be controlled by the power generator 43 through the CPU 44 in responsive to the rotational speed of the actuator 45. The volume of water used in each flushing cycle can be adjustably controlled by controlling the rotational cycle of the actuator 45, i.e. how long the actuator 45 drives the relief valve 30 to stay in the opened position. In other words, the water volume of each flushing cycle will be increased when the CPU 44 delays the rotational driving time of the actuator 45. Therefore, the water volume of each flushing cycle can be selectively adjusted in responsive to the presence of the user by configuring the corresponding setting of the CPU 44 and the power generator 43.